{"id":606261,"date":"2026-04-14T12:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/606261\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T12:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T12:53:08","slug":"luis-garcia-i-didnt-expect-football-to-give-me-that-again-but-there-i-was-crying-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/606261\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis Garc\u00eda: \u2018I didn\u2019t expect football to give me that again. But there I was, crying\u2019 | Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luis Garc\u00eda was \u201csuper cool\u201d, he says. That, at least, was the plan, but things have a habit of working out differently. When the former Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool<\/a> player retired in 2016, it was the second time: he walked out of the game in 2014 and walked back in again six months later. But this time, he wasn\u2019t going to be affected. All that suffering and satisfaction, the pressure, the emotion: that was no more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was always very competitive and once I had left football, I thought I wasn\u2019t going to have those feelings I had before,\u201d he says. \u201cI still enjoy football, still play seven-a-side with my friends \u2013 every Saturday at 10am, Los Jare\u00f1os Club de Futbol \u2013 but I thought I had lost that and it wasn\u2019t coming back. In fact, I was trying to avoid it; I didn\u2019t want it. So when it happened, it surprised me. I didn\u2019t expect football to give me that again. But there I was, crying.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was mid-February in Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia, and the players Garc\u00eda was watching celebrating a historic win were his, the feeling shared. \u201cWhen I saw them jumping with joy, having been with them every day, sharing the long journeys, from Malaysia to Vietnam and back, on to Japan, and then saw them win I got that emotion again.\u201d For the first time in their history, the Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta\u2019zim had reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League, defeating Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3-2 on aggregate. On Friday, they face Al-Ahli or Al-Duhail in Jeddah. Garc\u00eda will be with them. He is their chief executive.<\/p>\n

Luis Garcia with the owner of Johor Darul Ta\u2019zim, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim. Photograph: JOHOR DARUL TA\u2019ZIM FC<\/p>\n

It\u2019s different, that\u2019s for sure. A big responsibility, too. Which is why Garc\u00eda sits on the bench at Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s Metropolitano Stadium watching two of his former clubs warm up pre-game and chatting about his playing career and a new adventure after it. When Barcelona come here in the Champions League <\/a>on Tuesday night he will have to follow it on television. He will also follow Liverpool against Paris Saint-Germain<\/a>; although he travelled to Saudi Arabia on Sunday night and divides his time between Madrid and Malaysia, he doesn\u2019t miss a game and the connection remains, the impact profound.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda still plays for Liverpool\u2019s legends team \u2013 \u201cthe best are probably Mark Gonz\u00e1lez and F\u00e1bio Aur\u00e9lio, Stevie G [Steven Gerrard] always plays well\u201d \u2013 and says there\u2019s nothing quite like getting back to Anfield. When he\u2019s asked for his perfect seven-a-side team from all those he has played with, he comes up with: Victor Vald\u00e9s in goal, Carles Puyol, Sergio Ramos and Sami Hyypi\u00e4 at the back, Gerrard, Andr\u00e9s Iniesta and Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez in midfield and Ronaldinho up front. Until, that is, he cracks up and says: \u201cWait, that\u2019s eight.\u201d But still he refuses to take one out.<\/p>\n

Istanbul is always there, too<\/a>. Asked about his goal against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2005, the response is immediate: \u201cYes, it went in.\u201d And when he\u2019s reminded of the half-time team-talk in the final when Rafa Ben\u00edtez wrote the names up on the board and someone said: \u201cBoss, that\u2019s 12,\u201d he starts laughing.<\/p>\n

Luis Garc\u00eda celebrates his (in)famous goal against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2005. Photograph: Phil Noble\/PA<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone told you that one, eh? It\u2019s true, but there was a lot going on,\u201d Garc\u00eda says. \u201cWhat most sticks with me is how Rafa handled it all. There was frustration at 3-0 down, but seeing how calm he was, how he reorganised us, bringing on Didi Hamann to give us balance and push Stevie further forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was how the first goal came and we believed. The second arrived quick and after the third we breathed. And Jerzy Dudek had the most fantastic night of his life. I was down for the sixth penalty. Stevie was fifth. I asked for one, kept insisting, but Rafa didn\u2019t let me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I retired, I was relaxed, welcomed the pause, but I had also spent years getting ready for other opportunities that might arise in football. I did a master\u2019s with Uefa, a sporting director\u2019s course, my coaching badges. Any qualification that was on the table, I took it. But I didn\u2019t want to coach. I always preferred the business side of it to the on-pitch stuff because I suffered a lot on the pitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garc\u00eda nods towards the pitch. \u201cTell me I can play now and I\u2019m out there,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the idea of being a coach, being the other side of the line, all that pressure without being able to personally impact the game, didn\u2019t appeal. Coaches always tell me: \u2018No, but, you can\u2019t imagine the feeling when it comes off.\u2019 Sure, but I didn\u2019t want to have that feeling. Or more to the point, I didn\u2019t feel the call, the pull.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always been curious about things. I don\u2019t know if I was different, but I played the piano, the guitar. I had started guitar at 15 and always liked it: acoustic, then electric in a band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any good? \u201cDecent. Less so on the piano, although I got better during the pandemic. There were always things to do, learn. I was fascinated by gadgets, new technology, the explosion of the internet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did magic. With [former forward] Santi Ezquerro at Barcelona we learned to do tricks together. Proper tricks, not just cards: practising in front of the mirror, making sure you do the movements right so you don\u2019t get detected. I had just always been curious about things. So, whatever comes \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

Of his move to Johor Darul Ta\u2019zim, Garc\u00eda says: \u201cI was cool, relaxed working with ESPN, but last year I got a call to go and meet Tunku Ismail Idris, the crown prince of Malaysia, who is the owner of the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other end of the line: Kiko Insa, who played in Spain, but also in Belgium, Iceland, Latvia, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, where he had been for years. He had been at Oxford United, too. It was pretty left-field, but that is the way Garc\u00eda likes it: his career had closed in Greece and Mexico; six months later he came out of retirement to go to Atl\u00e9tico Kolkata and then all the way to Australia to play for the Central Coast Mariners.<\/p>\n

Johor Darul Ta\u2019zim revel in a 3-1 victory against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the first leg of their Asian Champions League last-16 tie, which they went on to win 3-2 on aggregate. Photograph: Ashok Kumar\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI just like new challenges, trying new things, something different, and this was one,\u201d he says. \u201cI went to see the prince and listen to his ideas. It was spectacular. He\u2019s very active, inquisitive. He\u2019s pretty good at football. I saw him in a game with [Robert] Pires and [Ludovic] Giuly, some other former players, and he scored a belting goal. An assist to me, too. He genuinely knows the game, what he wants.<\/p>\n

\u201c The club has grown massively since [he re-established it in] 2013. He took Johor to 12 league titles. Opta ranks us No 1 in south-east Asia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy me? I don\u2019t know. He wanted someone with a past in football and a different vision, based on what I have lived in three different continents. There is work to do, real work. I go every month for 10 days, two weeks. I\u2019ve been learning for the last year, understanding the structure, have an input. I try to find ways of implementing the vision. How do we get there? What do we do?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting 13,000 or so in league games, more like 30,000 in the Champions League, the biggest in Asia, and we\u2019re growing that, building the connection, the community. We want people to come and be part of it. There are school visits, hospitals. Sponsors: Nike, Toyota. The sporting director looks at players, we travel a lot together. I liaise with the operations manager. There\u2019s that view from the places I have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is the most important lesson from Europe? \u201cOne of the things done well in England, which we have tried to emulate, is the intensity of the work. We have 37 players, which is a huge number, but we play 70 games a year; two cups, the league, the Champions League. No one plays as many. You need practically three teams when you work on that intensity, the pace. We\u2019re very methodical. People think: \u2018Meh, you\u2019re in Malaysia \u2026 \u2019 But we have the full structure: coaches, analysis, assistants, fitness staff, dead ball, digital. The vision was in place; I said these are the things we have to do to get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play 3-5-2 and that doesn\u2019t change, although you maybe have to adapt in the Champions League, where the level is higher and you can\u2019t press the same. At most places a CEO wouldn\u2019t be involved in those conversations but, as a former player, I am. Xisco Mu\u00f1oz, who was at Watford and gets the philosophy, is coach. The team is international, with Malaysians who are playing very well and an academy that is winning practically every title.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Koreans, Portuguese, Spaniards, Argentinians, Brazilians, a Colombian, and the former Wolves midfielder Hong Wan, from Croydon. Plus Arif Aiman \u2013 \u201cthe pearl of Malaysia\u201d, Garc\u00eda says. \u201cQuick, good one on one, strong, scores goals, he could play in Europe easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johor drew at the weekend. It was the first time they had dropped points, 21 games into the Malaysia Super League season, but they maintained their long unbeaten league run: 105 games now, three off the world record.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalaysian football is taking big steps,\u201d Garc\u00eda says. \u201cIt\u2019s still a long way behind Europe, but Kuala Lumpur are working well, Kuching, Selangor \u2026 we all need those teams to improve. Malaysia only has one Champions League place. We have won the league every year for a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re four games from the longest run in history, we hope to reach the cup final again and the big challenge for us this year was the Champions League. We got through, the first time a Malaysian team got this far. Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, now Saudi: the effort the players make is titanic and when I saw what that meant to them, to everyone, I could feel the tears.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luis Garc\u00eda was \u201csuper cool\u201d, he says. That, at least, was the plan, but things have a habit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-606261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}